Variable speed take-up mechanism



April 9, 1935. v w. H. KIMPTON El AL 1,996,815

VARIABLE SPEED TAKE-UP MECHANISM Filed March 15, 1933 FIG-,1;

i 7 s. ,9 1;; T EH 2 16 v 1422 as 12 21s?- se as as a \I fi 222524 224 l 1 WILLIAM ,H- KIMPTON STEPHEN M. FULTON INVENTOIS Patented Apr. 9, 1935 VARIABLE SPEED TAKE-UP William Harry Kimpton and Stephen Miller Fulton, Spomlon, near Derby, England. aalgnorl to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application March 15, 1933, Serial No. ceases In Great Britain April 1, 19:2

.4 Claims. (01. 242-15) This invention relates to take-up mechanism for winding webs of materials, such as yarns, warps, fabrics, paper, films and foils, and has particular reference to diflerential mechanism designed to enable the speed of winding of such materials to be readily adjusted, as, for example, in the winding 01' warps in such operations as sizing where there is danger of the constanthr changing diameter of the beam of sized yarn affecting the tension on the yarn as it is drawn through the sizing machine.

The objects of the invention are to provide compactness and simplicity in such mechanism "and generally to improve its efliciency and sensitivity.

According to the invention, the drive is transmitted to a winding device through a differential mechanism whoseplanetary gears are carried by' a" housing provided with or connected to a braking surface. The drive is applied to one of the-sun wheels of the differential mechanism, and transmitted to the winding device through the other sun wheel. The, differential mechanism can thus be completely or substantially completely housed within the body constituting the braking surface, with consequent advantage as regards compactness and simplicity of the apparatus. A belt pulley, chain sprocket, or gear can'be provided close to the differential mechanism for applying the drive to the mechanism, so that the whole assembly of driving and differential gear assumes quite small dimensions.

The difierential mechanism can be used to provide for large degrees of slip between the driving means and the winding device, as for example in the winding of webs of material into large rolls or beams, such slip being provided by varying the braking eiiort applied ,to the housing carrying the planetary gears. Thus the mechanism can be used to maintain substantially uniform tension in warps undergoing notwithstanding the increasing diameter of the beam of sized'yarn, the slip occasioned being. provided by the rotation of the braked member against the braking efiort.

Cooling means may be employed to dissipate the heat produced at the braking surface.

. Thus, the differential mechanism may beconstructed with a housing completely enclosing the gears and with a braking surface separated from the housing .by an annular space connected at one end of the housing to inlet and outlet pipes for a cooling fluid extending through a gland which conveniently forms a bearing for the diflerential gear. The inlet pipe is eonvenpipes passing to a T-piece whose through branch is connected to the fluid supply main.

and whose side branch runs to a discharge outlet.

', By the provision of cooling the temperature conditions can be kept uniform or substantially so notwithstanding the amount of slip which is being provided for by the differential gear so that regulation of the braking effort is simplified, and the life of the braking means is prolonged considerably. A further advantage of such an arrangement, in which the'cooling liquid passes through the housing carrying the planetary gears, is that the gears are also cooled.

Ii fine control of the degree of braking is required, as for example in the case of winding warps of delicate'materials such as artificial silk,

1 a lubricant may be applied to the braking surface.

The braking means may comprise a brake band adapted to contact with the braking surface of the rotatable housing of the diiferential, and means for applying tension to the band. An adjusting screw or similar means may be provided for the brake band to enable the braking eflort to be adjusted as required.

'iently arranged inside the outlet pipe, the two 1 The diiierential mechanism according to the I invention may be applied in any machine in which it is desired to adjust the driving rate of materials in web or sheet form, e. g. yarns, fabrics, paper, films, or foils, and especially to provide for a continually varying degree of slip in the driving mechanism. By the use of the differential mechanism, the difficulty of obtaining uniform tension in sizing warps of cellulose acetate or other artificial yarns is largely overcome, the mechanism being capable of very delicateadjustment to provide for the increase of slip required as the size of the beam grows.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example take-up mechanism according to the invention as applied to'a sizing or like machine suitable for use with artificial yarns.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a part sectional plan view of the driving side of the takeup end of the machine;

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of a preferred form of diflerential mechanism, showing the brake-band arrangement; and I Figure 3 is a sectional view of an alternative form of differential mechanism.

Referring to Figure 1, 4 is the last drying cylinder over which the warp passes before reaching the take-up beam 5. The drum 4 is driven through gears 6, 1 from a shaft 8 which is connected by a clutch 9 to a sprocket I adapted to be connected by gearing (not shown) to a motor or other source of. power. The beam is driven by gears II from a shaft l2 on which is mounted a sleeve l3 carrying a sprocket I4 driven by a chain l5 and sprocket I6 from the drum driving shaft 8.

Rotatable on the sleeve I3 is a differential housing I1 comprising an inner casing l8 enclosing the differential gear, and an outer casing l9.

In Figure 1, the differential gear is of the type employing plane pinions, the sleeve [3 carrying on its end within the casing I 8 a pinion 20 and the shaft l2 carrying a pinion 2| equal in size to the pinion 20. Two planetary pinions 22 mounted on spindles 23 mesh with the pinion 20 over part of their width, and with a further pair of planetary pinions 24 over a further part of their width. The pinions 24 mesh with the pinion 2i on the shaft I2. The pinion 20 is thus driven by the sprocket l4 and itself through the intermediary of the pinions 22, 24 carried by the housing [1 drives the pinion 2|. p

A brake band 25 passes round the outside casing IQ of the differential, being connected at one end 26 to a fixed support 21 and at the other end 28 through a tension spring 29 to a screwed rod 30 passing through the support 21 and carrying a' 29, and consequently in the band 25, may be adjusted. It will be seen that if the brake band 25 is drawn sufliciently tightly to prevent rotation of the differential casing II, the beam 5 is driven solidly from the shaft 8 at a speed determined by the ratios of the chain and sprocket drive l4 l6 and of the gear drive H. Should, however, the brake band 25 be slackened off entirely, the differential casing I! will revolve idly on the shaft l2 and'no drive will be transmitted to the beam 5. Therefore, by adjustment of the tension in the brake band 25 the speed of the beam 5 can be adjusted from zero to maximum, and consequently as the diameter of the yarn on the beam increases, adjustment of the brake band affords a means for enabling the peripheral speed of the beam to equal that of thedrum 4 which is, of course, maintained constant. In other words, the drive imparted to the pinion 20 is distributed between the two driven members l'l, 2| of the differential mechanism, the pinion rotating in accordance with the angular speed required by the beam 5 and excess speed imparted to the differential mechanism causing rotation of the housing l1.

The heat produced by the slipping of the outer part I 9 pf the differential casing l1 within the band 25 is dissipated by means of the cooling jacket 32 afforded by the space between the inner and outer casings l8, l3. Cooling water is supp ed to the jacket 32 by an inlet pipe 33 discharging into a space34 between the difierential casing l8 and an end plate 35 carrying a gland 36 and supported in a bearing 31. A continuous supply of water must be maintained in the cooling jacket 32, the warm water leaving byan outlet pipe 38. The diiferential mechanism is thus contained wholly within the outer casing l9 forming the brake drum, and is itself cooled by the surrounding water.

The mechanism requires only the. one additional bearing 3.7, and since the driving sleeve l3 and the driven shaft 12 both emerge from the same side of the housing IT, a simple connection for the cooling pipes 33, 38 is provided through the cover plate 35 on the other side of the housing I I.

In operation of the machine, adjustment of the tension in the brake band 25 may be effected from time to time as the size of the beam increases, so that the tension on the warps may be maintained substantially constant.

The strength of the spring 29 is chosen in accordance with the strength of the yarns undergoing treatment, and where the yarns are of a particularly sensitive character, not only may a light spring be used, but the band 25 may itself be lubricated so that only a light frictional force is exerted on the differential housing. Then by periodic adjustment of the tension in the band by means of the hand-wheel 3|, the peripheral speed may be adjusted to that'of the drum 4 with only the slightest of variations in the tension in the yarns. I

Figure 3 shows a type of differential gear employing bevel pinions which may be used in place of the differential gears shown in Figures 1 and 2.

In this gear larger sized bevel pinions 33, 40 are mounted on the sleeve I3 and the shaft l2 respectively, while planetary bevels II are carried by the inner casing I8 to mesh with the bevels 39, 40. In other respects the construction of the differential gear is similar to that shown in Figure I, and as will be understood the gear operates to permit adjustment of the slippage of the casing to take place in accordance with the diameter of the beam driven by the shaft l2.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Take-up mechanism for winding webs and flexible sheet materials comprising a differential having a driving member, an intermediate driven member, and a further driven member, said intermediate member comprising a rotatable housing carrying gear wheels connecting the driving member to the further driven member, a braking surface on said housing, a space within said housing through which a fluid can be circulated so as to cool said braking surface and the gears carriedin the housing, means for efiecting such circulation of cooling fluid, a take-up device connected to said further driven member, and braking means adapted to engage the braking surface on the rotatable housing so as, by controlling the rotation thereof, to control the relative motion between the take-up member and the driving member.

2. Take-up mechanism for winding webs and flexible sheet materials comprising a rotatable casing, a differential housing within said casing and rotatable therewith, a braking surface on the casing, a space for cooling fluid within the casing, driving and driven members of the differential projecting from one side of thecasing, supply and discharge pipes for cooling fluid projecting from the other side of the casing, a take up member connected to said driven member,

and braking means adapted to engage said braking extension on said plate, supply and dischargemeans for cooling fluid passing through said extension, and a bearing engaging said extension to support the casing and differential mechanism.

4. A warp-sizing or like machine comprising a drying cylinder and a take-up member, a differential mechanism, a housing for said mechanism. means for driving the drying cylinder and th differential mechanism, means connecting the diiierential mechanism with the take-up member, -a. casing surrounding the difierential mechanism and adapted to rotate with the planetary gears thereof, a braking surface on the casing and braking means adapted to engage such surface so as to control the rotation of the casing and thereby the relative motion between the drying cylinder and the take-up member, a space between the casing and the housing of the differential mechanism for the circulation of fluid to cool the casing and differential mechanism, and means for circulating cooling fluid through said space. i

WILLIAM HARRY KIMPTON.

STEPHEN MILLER FULTON. 

